Rebound: A 2nd Chance

At first it was weird for the guys to know that Jason was now a part of the drama club. They weren't sure how it would affect him and practice.

But after a few days and seeing that the only difference made was the fact that Jason now showed up to practice right on time instead of being early they gradually got used to it.

During these days Jason had the varsity team get more adjusted with their playbook as they continued to practice their different plays and how to run them.

Although Danilo and Alex were able to get a feel for it relatively easy because of their natural talent and understanding of the game some of the other 7th graders weren't as lucky.

Sam, and Frank struggled as they tried to familiarize themselves with the team's different sets and how to run them.

Even Donte, who had played as a starter on his previous team, seemed to have a hard time getting used to Jefferson's playbook.

Jason stopped the play "You read that wrong Donte. After the double screen Danilo was wide open because both of the defenders tagged Kyle.

He flared out to the perimeter and had a good look from 3. And if you were more aggressive with your drive you could have gotten Matt open in the corner because his defender would have been forced to rotate over to you."

Donte nodded his head as he tried to burn Jason's words into his brain. A few minutes later Jason once again stopped the play.

"Frank, you need to pay more attention. Don't be so set to roll to the rim as soon as you set the screen. If you feel like you didn't make that much contact don't start rim running."

Frank wiped the droplets of sweat off of his face with the bottom of his practice jersey "My bad Jaya."

A few plays later "Sam, you did a good job getting open off of the screen. But because you hesitated to shoot you gave the defenders a chance to reset and reposition themselves."

Sam smiled nervously "Sorry, I guess I just wasn't that confident in my jump shot. I tried to look for an open guy to pass to."

Jason shook his head "Even if you're not that confident you just have to take it. If the other team sees that you're hesitant to shoot you'll just become an offensive liability.

Defenders will start sagging off of you and that will just shrink the floor for everyone else. You're role on the team is to be a shooter.

Leave the playmaking to the guys who are responsible for running the offense. I'm not saying that it's bad to look to make the pass but you need to master this skillset first.

After you start knocking down your shots you'll force the defenders to have to close out hard on you which will make cleaner looks for the rest of your teammates."

While helping the rest of the team with their own practice and individual training Jason didn't neglect on improving himself.

Now that most of his skills were maxed out at the current level Jason decided to focus even more on his current weaknesses.

Which at this moment were rebounding and athleticism. During practice he would work on boxing out against Kyle and Vince while at home he would dedicate even more time to his own physical training.

- - -

After practice. Jason, Kyle, Samantha, and Shania were hanging out at Jason's room. Ever since he had agreed to Sammy's request to join the drama club it had become a part of their daily routine to hang out at either one of the boy's rooms after their practice.

Samantha and Shania were both laying down on Jason's bed, which Shania had begun using ever since she had moved in with him and his parents, while playing on their phones.

With some old school music playing in the background Jason and Kyle were currently training. They would pass a 10lb (4.53kg) medicine ball to each other while alternating between both legs as they lunged every time they caught the ball.

Jason caught the medicine ball from Kyle as he then put his weight on his right leg while lunging. After getting up he would toss the medicine ball to Kyle who would do the same.

"I be on my own (yeah), head up in the clouds like Zeus

When they say, "You ain't the G.O.A.T.", I come down like, Ooh

But I got my head in the clouds like Zeus

Swear, I could see the game from a bird's-eye view (ayy)

Bitch, you talkin' to a rap god (ayy)

Girl, you talkin' to a monsta (ayy)

You could give your whole damn life to the music thing

They gon' turn around like they don't love you."

As the chorus to the song Zeus by Eminem played Samantha sneakily took a peak at Jason while pretending to still be looking at her phone.

He had his hair tied up but without a headband on his scar was fully visible. Although he lacked mass and bulk the intense training that he put himself through gave his body clear definition as his shirt stuck closely because of his sweat.

Shania glanced over at Samantha and chuckled after noticing what she was doing "Hehe, you really got it bad girl."

Samantha began to blush as she nudged Shania "Oh my god Shania! Shut up." Shania smiled "Why? You scared pretty boy over there gon hear us?

Don't worry. With how loud this music blastin the only ones that can hear us is ourselves." Samantha turned her eyes toward Jason and Kyle.

After seeing that they were both still engrossed in their training she let out a sigh of relief "Either way Shania. You shouldn't play around like that. What if they actually hear you one of these days?"

Shania rolled her eyes "If that ever happened you should thank me Sammy. I don't know why you beating around the bush like this.

You need to be like Jaya. Forget the noise and just shoot your shot." Samantha thought about it for a second before replying.

"I want to Shania. But I have no clue how he feels about me. And I don't want to risk messing up a good thing.

Whenever we hang out he acts the same way he does when he's hanging out with Kyle. I just can't figure him out."

Shania looked at Samantha and softly smiled "You already got a leg up on the other girls. You might think it's a bad thing that Jaya treats you like one of the bros but think of it this way.

Jaya don't really be talkin to girls like that anyways. You the only girl at school that he be talkin to right?"

Samantha recalled an unpleasant memory and scrunched her face as she blew a loc of her red hair out of her face.

"Yeah, at least for now. There's a new girl at Jefferson who thinks she's hot shit. Even though the girls at the school all kinda fangirl over Jaya she's the only one that's been trying to actually make a move on him.

She actually tried to sit next to him at Ms. Yuller's class back on the first day. And even after I told her that the seat was mine she tried to fight me for it."

Shania laughed "That's it? She tried to sit next to him? You need to chill Sammy. Even if she did try to sit next to him that wouldn't do much.

You know how Jaya is. He's a blockhead with good grades that only cares about hoopin. If you really that worried about it you need to be like her and be more aggressive.

If you wait too long some other girl might come along and shoot her shot before you. You can only play defense for so long." Just as Samantha was about to reply the music came to a stop.

Jason took his shirt off and used it to wipe the sweat off of his face and neck before smiling at Kyle "Good workout bro."

Kyle's breathing was a little ragged but he smiled as he nodded his head "Yeah bro. That was a good workout.

I am done for the day. I don't know how you manage to do all this and more. We train the same amount at practice and you still have the energy to do all this extra stuff as soon as you get home."

Jason laughed "You're already doing good Kyle. It's important to listen to your body when you train. The only reason why I do more is because I can feel that my body can take it."

In fact Jason felt that Kyle was more impressive than he was. In truth Jason pushed his body well beyond his limits every day.

But the only reason he did so was because he had the help of the system. No matter how hard he pushed his body with the Recovery Boost function he was able to get three times the rest in a single night and recover from all of it.

Compared to Kyle who had nothing but his own god given physical talents Jason felt that Kyle was the bigger freak and not him.

For just relying on his bodies natural ability to heal and repair itself Kyle was able to keep up somewhat with Jason who had the benefits of the system.

Kyle made his way over to Jason's desk and sat on the chair while Jason picked up two 10lb (4.53kg) dumbbells as he began to do some weighted squats.

Without turning his attention away he spoke "Alright Sammy. Let's practice these lines." Samantha shook her head as she pulled up a copy of the script that she had downloaded on to her phone.

"Oh great being of the night. Although my eyes cannot see your figure and although my human spirit cannot detect your presence I know that you are here."

As he continued to squat Jason recited his lines "You humans posses a foolishness that knows no bounds. For what reason have you trespassed upon my domain?"

In an attempt to maximize his time to the fullest extent Jason had come up with this idea. While training at home he would practice his lines with Samantha while Kyle and Shania provided feedback.

As Jason would take a quick break in between sets it took him thirty minutes to finish his workout and to finish reciting his lines for the day.

After the two of them were done Kyle and Shania both provided feedback as they talked about their tone of voice and facial expressions.

Although in Jason's case it was about the lack of. When they were done Samantha looked at her phone and saw the date.

"You guys have your second game of the season tomorrow right?" Kyle nodded his head "Yeah. Too be honest it isn't anything major.

The bleachers will probably be packed but the school we're playing tomorrow isn't anything special. Should be light work."

Jason pulled out a bottle of water from his mini fridge and chugged down half of it in one go. Although he didn't spent too much of the money that he had gotten from the Nike contract he had still splurged a bit and given his room a bit of an upgrade.

Which included a nice 60 inch (152.4cm) TV, high quality speakers, and the mini fridge. After he was done drinking he looked over at Kyle.

"Whether they're a powerhouse program or a run of the mill middle school you shouldn't slack Kyle. The Jefferson way is to always go all out no matter who the opponent is.

We don't play down to our competitions level and we don't let other teams force us to play their game. We go hard and we play to our standards.

We know that we're the best team so we should always go out and play like it."

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